Gail Gauthier: Get Ready To Think

Have you ever heard stories about the good old days, when families would jump in the car on a weekend to go for a ride? Yeah, it seems wasteful in terms of time and limited natural resources to me, too. But that’s what I think of each weekend when I pick up on my NESCBWI blog tour.

Kissing the Earth is described at the NESCBWI website as “A blog about landscapes and environments and our relationships to them as writers and human beings.” I can’t say that I totally understand that, but I do find this to be a well-done blog that is updated several times a month with sophisticated posts. In the “About” section sidebar, the bloggers talk about “The Art of the Flaneur–being present as you wander in your world, and taking note of the details,” which I definitely would like to look into. Two bloggers maintain this site, the New England part of the team being Tamara Ellis Smith.

Melissa Stewart is a writer I actually know. For real. We’ve met. I have one of her books tucked away upstairs to give to a family member. She blogs at Celebrate Science, which “offers innovative resources for teaching science and tips for writing nonfiction.” She also does some marvelous work for the NSCBWI.

I’m wondering if I haven’t met Jane Sutcliffe. The name is very familiar. (Do I sound pathetic, or what?) She updates her blog, Whozits, a Kids’ Biography Blog, a few times a month. The blog has an interesting focus. Each post is, at least in part, a biographical sketch.

Linda Booth Sweeney has written books and articles about systems. (From her website: “…systems – elements and processes interacting to form a whole – shape us and surround us.) Her blog, Talking About Systems, deals with “Looking for Systems in Everyday Life.” Wow.